Plastic sheeting still covers many roofs in the Innviertel, crash barriers have been damaged by fallen trees. The severe storms of the past few weeks are a result of climate change, says Climate Provincial Councilor Stefan Kaineder (Greens). A change that is affecting Upper Austria more than expected. “We have to drastically reduce our CO2 emissions, otherwise we can no longer cushion the consequences of the climate crisis in time,” says Kaineder. Six years ago, the environmental protection department of Upper Austria and the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics had the number of hot days in Linz calculated. It should be 16 days a year from 2021 to 2050. But already from 2010 to 2020 there were 21. “Reality is clearly overtaking us,” says Regina Pürmayr, deputy head of the department. In order to counteract the overheating, the country had a regional climate analysis carried out in the central area, the result: air currents from the surrounding communities cool down the cities. The air flows to Linz through the Haselgraben from the Mühlviertel. These “cool sources” will have to be taken into account in future urban planning, says Pürmayr.
The fire brigade is not only involved in climate disasters, it is also directly affected by them. “If more and more smaller streams dry up, we have no more water to extinguish the fire,” says Robert Mayer, state fire brigade commander. “Many of our devices are now no longer gasoline-powered, but battery-powered.”
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